Hat-planing machine.



' S. H. FAIRGHILD.

HAT PLANING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED APR. 30, 1909.

l/Vl/E/VTOR 8amuel Jlfirchild.

.M- ATTORNEY SAMUEL I-I. FAIRCI-IILD, OF FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS.

HAT-PLANIN G MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL H. FAIR- CHILD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fall River, in the county of Bristol and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hat-Planing Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to hat planing machines for cutting or trimming the edges of hat brims after they have been blocked or curled.

The object of the invention is to provide a practical and efficient machine that may be readily adjusted to operate on any style or size of hat, the same being also adapted to plane or trim the edge of the hat and to perform the operation with great rapidity and accuracy without the aid of skilled labor which is usually employed for this purpose.

A further object of the invention is to provide aflexible table adapted to be bent or adj usted to fit the curve of the hat and support the same while being operated upon.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a flexible or yieldable guide or form plate which is firmly held directly above the hat supporting table for the purpose of guiding the rapidly rotating cutter accurately around the hat.

The invention further consists of the provision of two sets of positioning and retaining pins, one set to engage the hat on the inside and the other set to engage the rim of the hat at four distinct points about its outer edge so as to accurately center the same on its supporting table. Means are also provided for automatically stopping the machine after the cutter has been carried around the hat.

An essential feature of my improved machine is that the hat is retained in a stationary position while the cutter is guided and carried around the same.

The invention consists of other novel features and parts and combinations of the same as will be fully described hereinafter and then pointedout in the appended claims.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 30, 1909.

Patented June 21, 1910.

Serial No. 493,125.

which similar characters of reference indi cate corresponding parts in all the views.

In the drawings: Figure 1is a side elevation of the machine showing a portion of the same in section. Fig. 2is a plan showing the jointed cutter supporting arms and the train of gears through which the cutter is driven, also the form plate for guiding the cutter and the trip for automatically stopping the machine. Fig. 8-is an enlarged side elevation showing the main pair of guide arms and the outer pair of arms connected together and straightened out of their normal position in line with each other to better show the same. Fig. &is a plan of a portion of the frame base with the table removed to better show the mechanism for giving the curvature to the table and also the mechanism for setting the positioning pins. Fig. 5-is a detail front elevation partially in section of the cutter supporting frame. Fig. 6is a detail showing a perspective view of the form plate.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the base, 2 the upright standard and 3 the head of the machine. The flexible and adjust-able form plate 4 is supported from this head on the lower end of the upright shaft 5 which shaft is retained in position in its bearings by the set screw 6. This form plate is preferably made of thin sheet metal and is therefore flexible and adapted to be bent into the desired shape. Said plate is provided with a central hole 6 adapted to receive the bolt 7 and is firmly retained in position on said bolt by the thumb nut 8. In order to readily set this form plate at the proper curvature I have provided a yieldable backing plate 9 which has a central hub 9 by means of which it is permanently secured to the end of the shaft 5. The ends of this oval or elongated plate may be readily bent either up or down, to conform to the shape of the hat to be planed, which bending is accomplished by means of the right and left hand screw 11, nuts 12 and links 13, which latter are pivotally connected from said nuts to ears 10 on the ends of the backing plate. A feature of this construction is that the plates may be readily removed and replaced by others of different size or shape to conform to the shape or style of'hat to be operated upon, and when firmly set into position by means of the thumb nut 8 this form plate will be bent and take the shape of the backing plate or member against which it sets. The plate is provided with pin holes 8 (see Fig. 6) to receive pins in the backing plate 9, not shown. The hat supporting table 14 is also made of a fiexible piece of metal, or other material, which is supported at its middle portion from the base 1 on the transverse bridge wall 15. The ends of this table are adapted to be curved downward in a manner to conform to the shape of the underside of the hat to form a proper support for the same. This curvature is accomplished by means of the right and left hand screw 17 journaled in the bridge wall 15, links 19 being connected from the nuts 18 on said screw to the ears 16 at the ends of the table.

In order to position the hat directly beneath the center of the form plate and retain the same firmly I have provided a set of inner positioning pins 20 set in nuts 21 mounted on the right and left hand screw 22, said screw being operated by the hand wheel 23 to adjust said pins to engage the inside portion of the hat at two opposite points through the shaft 24, gears 25 and 26. A set of four outer positioning pins 27 are each mounted at one end of their respective arms 28, the opposite end of said arms being connected to the bars 29, which are guided on rods 30 and moved longitudinally toward and from each other by the right and left hand screw 31 upon which they are threaded.

The cutter 32 may be made in any convenient shape but I preferably form the same by slotting a circular barrel on which two or more cutting edges are formed, see Fig. 5. This cutter is connected to an upright spindle 33 rotatably mounted in the bearing 34 in the frame 35 and a guard shoe 36 connected to said frame is adapted to extend down underneath said cutter to prevent the points of the same from injuring the hat. This cutter receives a very rapid rotary motion from the main driving shaft 37 through the gears 38 and 39, sleeve 40 and train of gears 41, 42, 43 and 44, elongated gear 45, upright spindle 46, gear 47 and pinion 48.

The cutter supporting frame 35 is provided with two upright guide bars 49 and 50 which with the upright shaft 46 pass through suitable bearings 51 .and 52 in its supporting bracket 53. This bracket is in turn supported from the main head to be rotated around the central spindle 5 by a pair of main arms 54, in the outer end of which this depending bracket 53, together with its upper supporting arm 55, is pivoted at 56. The rotary motion around the head is obtained from the main shaft 37 through the worm 57, worm gear 58, miter gears 59 and 65, shaft 60, miter gears 61, pinion 62, and gear 63, which latter is permanently fixed by bolt 64 to the upper main arm 54. The connection to this circular driving mechanism may be made or broken by the withdrawal of gear 65 from mesh with gear 59 by means of the hand lever 66.

In order that the rapidly rotating cutter may be perfectly controlled in its every movement while revolving around the hat I have attached a face plate 67 to the upright bars 49 and 50 through the lugs 68, see Fig. 3, and have mounted an adjustable arm 70 in brackets 69 on this plate, in the outer end of which arm is mounted a guiding roller 71 that is adapted to engage the edge and closely follow the exact contour of the form plate. This roller arm may be adjusted either in or out by the screw 72 the required position being readily determined by means of the graduated scale 73.

The operation of my improved machine may be more fully described as follows: Before setting a hat in the machine the bracket carrying the cutter is swung outward leaving the necessary room for setting the hat, the same being held in this withdrawn position by means of the latch 76 which engages the notch 77, see Fig. 2. The hat, which is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, is then placed on the receiving table, the curvature of which is regulated to fit its underside to fully support the same. Both the inner and outer positioning pins are then adjusted to center the hat and grip the same both from the inside and from the out and hold it firmly upon the table. The cutter is then started rotating by moving the shipper handle 78, throwing the belt from the loose pulley 79 to the tight pulley 80 where it is held in position by means of the trip lever 81 against the pull of the spring 82. The latch 7 6 is then withdrawn when the guide roll 71 will engage the edge of the form 4 and allow the cutter to take its position against the rim of the hat. The clutch handle 66 is then operated setting in motion the mechanism for carrying the cutter completely around the hat, the same being guided in its every movement by the contact roller on the form plate 4. This roll is pressed against and caused to follow the contour of this plate by means of the band spring 74 which is bolted at one end to the arm at 75, said band also serving to form a guard about the gear 43. After the cutter has made one complete revolution around the hat the actuating pin 82, see Fig. 2, engages the trip lever 81, causing the same to release the shipper lever to throw the belt ontothe loose pulley and stop the machine. The cutter is then swung away from the hat and retained as before by the latch 76 when the hat is removed and replaced by a fresh one and the operation repeated as above.

By the use of my improved machine the cost of planing hats is reduced to the mini mum, the work produced is absolutely perfect and uniform and owing to the great rapidity in the operation of the machine the production is very large.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A hat planing machine comprising a hat supporting table, a cutter, means for revolving said cutter about the hat, and a flexible adjustable guide plate for controlling the path of said cutter.

2. A hat planing machine comprising a hat supporting table, a cutter, means for revolving said cutter about the hat, a flexible adjustable guide plate, and means for engaging said plate for controlling the elevation and also the circular path of said cutter.

3. A hat planing machine comprising a hat supporting table, a cutter, means for rotating said cutter, means for revolving said cutter about the hat, and a flexible adjustable guide plate for controlling the path of said cutter.

1. A hat planing machine comprising a hat supporting table, a cutter, means for rapidly rotating said cutter, means for revolving said cutter about the hat, a flexible adjustable guide plate, and means for engaging and following the edge of said plate for the purpose of controlling the path of said cutter.

5. A hat planing machine comprising a hat supporting table, a cutter, means for rapidly rotating said cutter, means for revolving said cutter about the hat, a flexible guide plate, means for shaping this plate, and means for engaging and following the edge of said plate for the purpose of controlling the path of said cutter.

6. Ahat planing machine comprising a hat supporting table, a cutter, means for rapidly rotating said cutter, means for revolving said cutter about the hat, a flexible guide plate, means for regulating the surface curvature of this plate, and means for following the contour of said plate to control the path of said cutter.

7. A hat planing machine comprising a hat supporting table, a cutter, means for rapidly rotating said cutter, means for revolving said cutter about the hat, a stationary guide plate, screw actuated means for regulating the surface curvature of said member and plate, and means for following the contour of said plate to control the path of said cutter.

8. A hat planing machine comprising a hat supporting table, a cutter, means for rapidly rotating said cutter, means for revolving said cutter about the hat, a guide plate, a backing member therefor, means for removably attaching said plate to said member, screw actuated means for regulating the surface curvature of said member and plate, and means for following the contour of said plate to control the path of said cutter.

9. A hat planing machine comprising a non-rotatable yieldable hat supporting table, adjustable means for shaping said table, means on said table for positioning and retaining said hat, a cutter, mechanically actuated means for revolving said cutter about the hat, and a guide plate for controlling the path of said cutter.

10. A hat planing machine comprising a non-rotatable yieldable hat supporting table, screw actuated means for regulating the surface curvature of said table, means for engaging said hat both on its external and on its internal surfaces for positioning and retaining the same on said table, a cutter, means for revolving said cutter about the hat, and a guide plate for controlling the path of said cutter.

11. A hat planing machine comprising a non-rotatable yieldable hat supporting table. screw-actuated means for regulating the surface curvature of said table, screw actuated means for engaging the hat on its interior and also on its exterior to position and retain the same on said table, a cutter, means for rotating said cutter, means for revolving said cutter about the hat, and a guide plate for controlling the path of said cutter.

12. A hat planing machine, the combination of an adjustable hat supporting table, a rotatable trimming cutter, means for rapidly rotating said cutter, means for revolving said cutter about the hat, an adjustable guide plate and means engaging said plate for controlling the elevation and also the circular path of said cutter.

13. A hat planing machine comprising a hat supporting table, a rotatable cutter mounted on an upright spindle, means for rapidly rotating said cutter, means for revolving said cutter about the hat, and a flexible, adjustable guide plate for controlling the path of said cutter.

1 1. A hat planing machine comprising a hat supporting table, a guide plate, jointed arms pivotally mounted, a cutter carried by said arms, and means whereby said arms are adapted to swing and cause said cutter guided by said plate to follow the contour of the hat, means for revolving said arms and cutter about the hat, and a flexible, adjustable guide plate for controlling the path of said cutter.

15. A hat planing machine comprising a hat supporting table, ointed arms pivotally and yieldably mounted, a rotatable cutter mounted on an upright spindle and carried by said arms, means for rapidly rotating said cutter, mechanically actuated means for revolving said arms and cutter about the hat, and a guide plate for controlling the path of said cutter.

16. A hat planing machine comprising a hat supporting table, a plurality of jointed arms a rotatable cutter mounted on an upright spindle and carried by said arms, means including a train of gears for rapidly rotating said cutter, positive mechanically actuated means for revolving said arms and cutter about the hat, a stationary guide plate, and means whereby said arms are adapted to swing and cause said cutter to follow the contour of said plate to control its path about the hat.

17. In a hat planing machine, the combination of a hat supporting table, a plurality of jointed arms arranged to swing in their pivoting points as they revolve about a fixed center, a rotatable cutter positively driven at a high velocity and carried by said swing ing arms to follow the contour of the hat, means for revolving said arms and cutter about the hat, an adjustable guide plate, and means carried by said arms for engaging and following the contour of said plate whereby the path of the cutter is controlled.

18. In a hat planing machine, the combination of an adjustable hat supporting table, a plurality of jointed arms arranged to revolve about a fixed center, a rotatable cutter positively driven at a high velocity and carried by said arms, means for positively revolving said arms and cutter about the hat, an adjustable non rotatable guide plate, means carried by said arms for engaging and following the contour of said plate whereby the path of the cutter is controlled, and means whereby said cutter may be read ily removed and retained from engagement with the hat.

19. In a hat planing machine, the combination of an adjustable hat supporting table, a plurality of jointed arms arranged to revolve about a fixed center, a rotatable, cutter positively driven at a high velocity and carried by said arms, means for positively revolving said arms and cutter about the hat, an adjustable non -rotatable guide plate, means carried by said arms for engaging and following the contour of said plate whereby the path of the cutter is controlled, and means for automatically stopping the machine each time the cutter has made a revolution around the hat.

In testimony whereof I affi'x my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL H. FAIRCHILD.

lVitnesses:

TIMOTHY C. MURPHY, JAMES F. KEILTY. 

